Clare Rood/Mary Dodge descendants and ancestors
Mary Eunice Dodge was born 30 Apr 1897 in South Haven, Van Buren County, Michigan. She was the second surviving child of Warren S. Dodge (age 27) and his first wife Wealthy E. Cranmer (age 25). She joined older brother Warren J. Dodge (age 6) in the family. Mary never knew her Cranmer grandparents- Grandfather Jeremiah died 29 Dec 1898 when she was one year old and Grandmother Eunice in 1875, years before Mary was born. Not only did she know her Dodge grandparents well- Grandfather Henry died in 1920 and grandmother Mary in 1918- she also knew her maternal great grandmother- Julia (Lewis) Shumway, who lived until 1913 when Mary was 16. All resided nearby in Van Buren County.
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Mary grew up and attended school in South Haven. In the picture at left she is about 2 or 3 with brother Warren; above she is about 7 or 8 and a little older at bottom left (with unknown); below is her seventh grade cooking class- she is front row, center. On 10 Mar 1912, when Mary was 14 years old and in the eighth grade, her mother Wealthy E. Dodge died of kidney disease at age 40. Her father did not remarry until 7 years later.
Mary attended South Haven High School from 1912-1916, graduating June 9 with her boyfriend and future husband Clare A. Rood and 42 others. Her senior yearbook indicates she was in Choral her Junior and Senior years plus "Joke Editor" of that yearbook, mostly anecdotes about fellow students. The picture below left is from 1913 (context unknown) and Mary is front row, far left; the picture below right is about 1914 (sophomore class) and Mary is second row, fifth from right in white blouse and black tie (that might be Clare front row center). The pictures below those were used in her senior yearbook, along with her school history of activities. The quote is referring to Clare.
Following graduation from high school, Mary attended college. She spent three years at Olivet College, 80 miles from South Haven before transferring to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, 140 miles east of home. She graduated in June of 1920 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Teaching. The pictures below are with her college friends and the one at right is her graduation photo.
Following her graduation from U of M, Mary taught for one school year (1920-21) in Ludington, Michigan. During that same time, Clare was teaching 450 miles away in Tapiola, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The page at right is from the 1921 Ludington High School yearbook and reuses her college graduation picture. After that first year of teaching, on 20 Aug 1921, Mary (age 24) and Clare (age 23) married at the home of her parents in South Haven. Standing as bridesmaid for Mary was U of M college friend Varian Hirdning (later Cardy). They took a week-long honeymoon at Palisades Park, a summer resort on the sand dunes of Lake Michigan, about 7 miles south of South Haven. The picture below is from their honeymoon. See Clare's page of this post for extensive details and additional pictures of the wedding and honeymoon.
Following their wedding, Mary and Clare spent the next two school years (Sep 1921- Aug 1923) in the Upper Peninsula. They both taught at the Otter Lake Agricultural School in Tapiola, 15 miles south of Houghton and part of the Houghton and Portage Lake school district. Please forgive the quality of the following pictures of their time in Houghton County. They are scans of photocopies of originals (which have not been located). However, they do give you an idea of these days of a young couple enjoying life before they started their family.
Here are some excerpts from a letter that Mary wrote in Nov 1921, about 3 months after their arrival:
When the weather was good, we took a long auto ride most every weekend, so have seen some wonderful country. We spend a great share of our weekends in town [Houghton], for we have a great many friends there. We can always find plenty to do out here, and some of the things we do right here are the most enjoyable of all. All fall we both had our riding horses, and I never enjoyed anything more than those. We took a ride almost every day after school, and would make some pretty long jaunts. But it is too cold for that now, and the horses have gone back to the stables for winter, and we shall have them in the spring again. Now we do a great deal of hiking, and I enjoy that too. When one hikes in the woods here it behooves one to dress properly for the occasion or they will come home sadder and wiser.
I also have been learning to shoot which I consider quite an accomplishment, if one can do it. I took the gun very carefully and somewhat skeptically the first time and followed the instructions. I swallowed hard, shut my eyes and pulled, with the intention of hitting a wood pile almost under my nose. The force of the gun almost knocked me over, and I didn't even scratch the wood pile- all of which was very amusing to friend husband, but no one else. After that, I took the janitors gun, which was lighter, and I now can hit a tin can on the wood pile. Also my heart has ceased knocking my ribs out of joint when I pick up the critter.
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Our house is still not done, tho we now expect to be in it by the first of Dec. If I could only talk a few earnest words of Finnish, I'd go over there and tell them just how I regard them, but as it is I can only gnash my teeth. We are pretty busy now, but will be busier than ever soon with Christmas programs. I find that it keeps a fellow busy- teaching school and keeping house at the same time, but in spite of that, I seem to bear up unusually well, for I never felt better in my life.
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This isn't half as wild a country as most people think it, and one can enjoy it to the utmost. If you would like to know the health of the other member of the firm, will say that he seems to be thriving under it all as much as I am, and as yet we have not had to think of any divorce proceedings, In fact, the longer it lasts the better it gets, and now we can't imagine how we ever managed before.
The following pictures are of the home built for them in Tapiola, the school and the village, such as it is.
For the next 19 years, as was common in those days, as they added children, Mary stopped teaching and stepped into to role of homemaker, mother and caretaker, moving as her husband Clare's jobs dictated. They were in Hesperia one year (1923-24; son Bob born 20 Jul 1924 in South Haven), Saginaw four years (1924-28, where son Dave was born 20 Feb 1926), Marquette for 14 years (1928-42 where daughter Mary JoAnne was born 29 Jun 1932) and a few months in Petoskey (Jun-Nov 1942).
The next several years were difficult ones for Mary. Clare left the family in the fall of 1942 and, at age 45, she was left to support three children- Bob was 18, Dave 16 and Mary Jo 10. Sometime prior to May 1944, when the divorce was final, Mary received a one-time property settlement of $1,151.80. She also received $10 per week as 'alimony' for the support and maintenance of Mary Jo until her 17th birthday. In order to survive, Mary went back to work as a teacher and bounced around between schools in Michigan. She taught seventh grade in Reed City for one year (1942-43); at Constantine for two years (1943-45); Junior High English in Mason for one year (1945-46); and eighth grade at Haslett rural agricultural school for two years (1946-48).
The picture above left is labeled 'Constantine, Mich', so would date between 1943-45. The other two pictures above with Mary Jo and the one at right are undated, but would be from the same time frame or shortly thereafter. With Mary in the picture at right are her step mother Florence, son Bob and daughter Mary Jo. During this unsettling time, Mary received much support from her family. In the picture below (about 1947), Mary Jo and Mary are surrounded by her father Warren S and stepmother Florence Dodge on the left, brother Warren J and his wife Ruth Dodge on the right and nephew W. Smith Dodge and his wife Vivian behind them.
Finally, beginning in 1948, some normalcy began returning to Mary's life. On July 22 it was announced in the Lansing State Journal that "Mrs. Mary Rood, East Lansing, will teach English in the [Okemos] high school". She would stay with that school district until her retirement 16 years later. On 4 Jun 1950 (age 53), at the same time that her son Dave received a Bachelor Degree in Journalism, Mary received a Master's Degree in Guidance, both from Michigan State College. Their commencement address was delivered by Alben Barkley, Vice President of the United States. Sometime later she studied Library Science at Kalamazoo College and transitioned from teaching English to being the school librarian for Okemos. She also began accumulating grandchildren during this period- In the picture below she is holding the first one, Steve born 1949. Also in the picture left to right as faces appear are Warren S. Dodge, W. Smith Dodge, Mary Jo Rood, Vivian Rood, Rita Rood, Steve, Mary, Dave Rood, Bob Rood, Jim Clark, Florence Dodge and Shirley Clark.
One of the members of the Okemos school board that hired Mary in 1948 was Walter Sheldon, a widowed assistant professor of agriculture engineering research at MSC. All four of his children had been or would be students of Mary in school. On 14 Aug 1953, Mary (age 56) and Walter (age 51) married at the Peoples Church in East Lansing with the blessing of all their children. Bob Rood (age 28) escorted his mother down the aisle. Howard Sheldon (age 18) stood as best man for his father. Bridal attendants were Mary Jo Rood (age 21) and Ruth Sheldon (age 20). Dave Rood (age 27) and Arthur Sheldon (age 15) seated the guests and Marge Sheldon (age 12) attended the guest book.
Walter
Mary
Howard
Marge
Bob
Mary Jo
Dave
Arthur
Ruth
Following the wedding, Mary and Mary Jo joined the Sheldon household at 4930 Dawn Avenue that Walter built in 1939 with help from coworkers and students. According to the Sheldon Family website "they rented out Mary's house at 610 N. Hagadorn, while Walter rewired and repaired it so it could be sold a few years later. Both Mary and Walter retired in the early 1960’s, purchased an RV and began spending the winters in AZ or FL in addition to travels to Canada and England.
House on Dawn Avenue
They also sold the Dawn Avenue house and planned a house which was built at 2293 Hulett Avenue, (temporarily living on Melrose Avenue.) It was entirely electric and exactly fit their lifestyle."
1954 Okemos High School yearbook- faculty
Sept 1955
1958 - Mary Jo, Penny, Mary and Al Rood
Est. 1959
1964 retirement
1968
In 1970, Walter developed an aneurism and a few months later, symptoms of a brain tumor which couldn’t be totally removed by surgery. He died on 21 Apr 1972 (age 70) at an area hospital.
Mary Jo
Bob
Dave
Marge
Mary
Art
Howard
1972 gathering for Walter's funeral
Ruth
Sometime in the late 1970s, Mary moved into Burcham Hills assisted living in East Lansing. She lived there eight years until her death 16 May 1986 (age 89). She was buried with Walter in Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens, DeWitt. In an ironic timing of fate, each of her three children had a child that was getting married shortly thereafter. Dave's son David, Jr. married Debbie on 23 May, Mary Jo's daughter Karen married David on 14 June and Bob's son Dan married Kim on 12 July. Mary's son Dave was a newspaper editor and columnist. Below is his tribute to his mother.
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